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George Colman the elder
George Colman (baptized 18 April 1732 - 14 August 1794) was an English dramatist and essayist, usually called "the Elder", and sometimes "George the First", to distinguish him from his son, George Colman the younger. Life Overview Colman was born at Florence, where his father was British envoy. He was a friend of Garrick, and took to writing for the stage with success. He wrote more than 30 dramatic pieces, of which the best known are The Jealous Wife (1761), and The Clandestine Marriage (1766). Colman was also manager and part proprietor of various theatres. He was a scholar and translated Terence and the De Arte Poetica of Horace, wrote essays, and edited Beaumont and Fletcher and Ben Jonson.John William Cousin, "Colman, George the elder," A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature, 1910, 93. Web, Dec. 27, 2017. Youth and education Colman was born in 1732 at Florence, where his father was stationed as resident at the court of the grand duke of Tuscany. Colman’s father died within a year of his son’s birth, and the boy’s education was undertaken by William Pulteney, afterwards Lord Bath, whose wife was Mrs. Colman’s sister.Britannica, 695. After attending a private school in Marylebone, he was sent to Westminster School, which he left in due course for Christ Church, Oxford, where he earned a B.A. in 1755 and an M.A. in 1758. At Oxford he made the acquaintance of Bonnell Thornton, the parodist, and together they founded The Connoisseur (1754–1756), a periodical which, although it reached its 140th number, “wanted weight,” as Johnson said. Colman left Oxford after taking his degree in 1755, and, having been entered at Lincoln’s Inn before his return to London, he was called to the bar in 1757. A friendship formed with David Garrick did not help his career as a barrister, but he continued to practise until the death of Lord Bath, out of respect for his wishes. Career In 1760 Colman produced his 1st play, Polly Honeycomb, which met with great success. In 1761 The Jealous Wife, a comedy partly founded on Tom Jones, made Colman famous. The death of Lord Bath in 1764 placed him in possession of independent means. In 1765 appeared his metrical translation of the plays of Terence; and in 1766 he produced The Clandestine Marriage, jointly with Garrick, whose refusal to take the part of Lord Ogleby led to a quarrel between the 2 authors. In the next year Colman purchased a quarter share in the Covent Garden Theatre, a step which is said to have induced General Pulteney to revoke a will by which he had left Colman large estates. The general, who died in that year, did, however, leave him a considerable annuity. Colman was acting manager of Covent Garden for 7 years, and during that period he produced several “adapted” plays of Shakespeare. In 1774 he sold his share in the great playhouse, which had involved him in much litigation with his partners, to Leake; and 3 years later he purchased from Samuel Foote, then broken in health and spirits, the little theatre in the Haymarket. He was attacked with paralysis in 1785; in 1789 his brain became affected, and he died on the 14th of August 1794. Writing Besides the works already cited, Colman was author of adaptations of Beaumont and Fletcher’s Bonduca, Ben Jonson’s Epicoene, Milton’s Comus, and of other plays. He also produced an edition of the works of Beaumont and Fletcher (1778), a version of the Ars Poëtica of Horace, an excellent translation from the Mercato''r of Plautus for Bonnell Thornton’s edition (1769–1772), some 30 plays, many parodies and occasional pieces. An incomplete edition of his dramatic works was published in 1777 in 4 volumes. Recognition In 1768 he was elected to the Literary Club, then nominally consisting of 12 members. Publications Poetry *''Two Odes: 1. To obscurity; 2, To oblivion (with Robert Lloyd). London: H. Payne, 1760. Plays *''Polly Honeycombe: A dramatick novel, of one act. London: S. Smith, 1760. *The Jealous Wife: A comedy, in three acts. London: J. Newberry, et al, 1761; Dublin: A. Leathley, G. & A. Ewing, et al, 1761. *''The Musical Lady: A farce. London: T. Becket & P.A. de Hondt, 1762. *''The Deuce is in Him: A farce, of two acts. London: T. Becket & P.A. de Hondt, & T. Cadell, 1763; Dublin: A. Leathley, et al, 1764. *A Fairy Tale: In two acts'' (taken from Shakespeare). London: J. & R. Tonson, 1763; London: T. Becket, 1777. *''The Clandestine Marriage: A comedy, in five acts. London: T. Becket & P.A. de Hondt, et al, 1766; Dublin: A. Leathley, J. Hoey, et al, 1766. *''The English Merchant: A comedy. London: T. Becket & P.A. de Hondt, 1767; Dublin: W.W. Smith, P. Wilson, J. Exshaw, et al, 1767. *''The Oxonian in Town: A comedy, in two acts''. London: T. Becket, & R. Baldwin, 1769. *''The history of King Lear'' (adapted from Shakespeare, with Nahum Tate). London: R. Baldwin, & T. Becket, 1768. *''Man and wife: or the Shakespearean jubilee: A comedy, in three acts''. London: T. Becket, & R. Baldwin, 1770. *''The portrait: a burletta''. London: T. Becket, 1770. *''The Fairy Prince: A masque'' (from Ben Jonson). London: T. Becket, 1771. *''Comus: A masque'' (altered from Milton). London: T. Lowndes, et al, 1772; London: T. Cadell, 1780. *''The Man of Business: A comedy''. London: T. Becket, 1775. *''An Occasional Prelude''. London: T. Becket, 1776. *''The Spleen: or Islington Spa: A comick piece, in two acts''. London: T. Becket, 1776; Dublin: Price, Corcoran, Chamberlain, et al, 1776.. *''New Brooms! An occasional prelude''. London: T. Becket, 1776; Dublin: Price, Corcoran, Watson, et al, 1777. *''The sheep shearing: a dramatic pastoral, in three acts'' (from Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale). London: G. Kearsley, 1777. *''The Spanish Barber: or, the fruitless precaution''. London: 1777; Philadelphia: M. Carey, 1811. *''The Dramatick Works''. (4 volumes), London: T. Becket, 1777. Volume I, Volume II, Volume III, Volume IV *''The Manager in Distress: A prelude''. London: T. Cadell, 1780. *''The Genius of Nonsense: A pantomime'' (with Samuel Arnold). 1780. *''Utpictura sic Poesis! or, The enraged musician: A musical entertainment''. London: T. Cadell, 1789. *''The Plays of George Colman the Elder'' (edited by Kalman A. Burnim). New York: Garland, 1983. Non-fiction *''Critical Reflections on the Old English Dramatick Writers. London: T. Davies / Oxford, UK: James Fletcher / Cambridge, UK: J. Merril, 1761. *''T. Harris Dissected. London: T. Becket, 1768. Collected editions *''Prose on Several Occasions: Accompanied by some pieces in verse''. (3 volumes), London: T. Cadell, 1787. Volume I, Volume II, Volume III Translated *Terence, The Comedies: Translated into familiar blank verse. London: T. Becket & P.A. de Hondt, 1765. *Horace, Epistola ad Pisones / de Arte Poetica = The Art of Poetry / An Epistle to the Pisos: Translated, with notes. London: T. Cadell, 1783. Edited *''Poems by Eminent Ladies'' (edited with Bonnell Thornton]. (2 volumes), London: R. Baldwin, 1755. *''The Connoisseur'' (literary magazine). (4 volumes), London: R. Baldswin, 1755-1757. Volume I, Volume II, Volume III, Volume IV *''The Dramatick Works of Beaumont and Fletcher''. (10 volumes), London: T. Sherlock, for T. Evans & P. Elmsley, J. Ridley, J. Williams, et al, 1778. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:George Colman 1794, WorldCat, OCLC Onlinc Computer Library Center Inc. Web, May 14, 2016. Selected plays * Polly Honeycombe (1760) * The Jealous Wife (1761) * The Clandestine Marriage (1766) * The Oxonian in Town (1767) * The Manager in Distress (1780) * The Genius of Nonsense (1780) See also *List of British poets *List of English-language playwrights References * Notes External links ;Poems *George Colman (1732-1794) info & 4 poems at English Poetry, 1579-1830 ;Books * ;About *George Colman the Elder in the Encyclopædia Britannica *Colman, George in the Dictionary of National Biography * Original article is at Colman, George Category:1732 births Category:1794 deaths Category:English dramatists and playwrights Category:English male dramatists and playwrights Category:18th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:English poets Category:Poets Category:People educated at Westminster School, London Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford